FARMERS IN TN CAUVERY DELTA RISK LOSING HARVEST AGAIN

Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami said that due to the case in the Supreme Court, the Centre has not acted on the state government’s plea seeking its intervention in getting Cauvery water released from Karnataka for the parched fields of Cauvery delta area.

In Tamil Nadu, he said, adequate water was not available for the farming community. But he assured the community that the government will take steps to provide water for farmers to save their standing crops.

Palaniswami on Wednesday said that the Tamil Nadu government had written to the Centre as well as Karnataka but neither have taken any action. This is because the Supreme Court is yet to pronounce its verdict in the Cauvery river water sharing dispute between the two states.

Tamil Nadu has also filed an interim petition in Supreme Court seeking water urgently but it was not accepted in view of the impending final judgment.

Karnataka chief minister S Siddaramaiah has rejected Tamil Nadu’s request. Farmers in the region are fearful that due to elections in the neighbouring state, the Karnataka government and its political parties would take a tough stand. S Ranganathan, of the Cauvery Delta Farmers' Welfare Association, said, “Karnataka’s stand is to be expected and I fear a majority of the crop of farmers in the delta region would be destroyed.”

But Palaniswami assured farmers that “we will take steps to release available water to the extent possible in a day or two”.

CHENNAI: TN HAS ALSO FILED AN INTERIM PETITION IN SUPREME COURT SEEKING WATER URGENTLY BUT IT WAS NOT ACCEPTED IN VIEW OF THE IMPENDING FINAL JUDGMENT